User blog:Bern Unit/Bern Unit - Marked For Life
Night set in along Gotham, the street lights began to turn on and the headlights of the cars in the streets pierced the growing dark of the evening. People shuffled along the streets in efforts to make to their next stop without any trouble from anyone else. Along a side street a woman is walking home from her shift at The Regal Hotel. She was rushing along the side streets in efforts to get to an audition she has booked for an upcoming Soder Cola commercial. As she walked she looked over the script that she had been given in efforts to memorize the scene and her lines for the part. Rain began to fall lightly and the pages gathered droplets. The woman pulled up her collar and continued on her way. She knew she had just enough time to get to her apartment and grab the outfit she had set aside for the audition. Her slender frame was filled with nervous excitement that she might get the break she was hoping for. The woman rounded a corner to duck down an alley way that would cut about 5 minutes off her time. As she turned the corner she was met by a stranger who was lingering in the alley way. His face lit up with a mischievous delight. “Hey baby, you got a hot date or something?” The woman made her best effort to not pay the thug any mind and she continued towards her direction which sadly meant passing the thug. Her skin crawled as she made each step closer to him. “Hey, I’m talkin’ to you” the thug grunted as the woman walked passed him. The thug lunged out to her and pushed her again the cold stone wall of the alley way. “I think I asked you a question, didn’t I?” the thug pulled a knife and held it to the woman’s neck. The woman was paralyzed, fearful that the thug was going to kill her “Look take whatever you want, please for the love of God just leave me alone.” As the thug perversely looked the woman up and down as he held the blade to her neck he felt a large hand grab him by the back of his collar. The thug was hurled backwards and crashed into a dumpster leaving a slight dent. The thug looked up and shook off the haze from the impact, as his eyes focused he saw the large rock skinned figure that was Bern Unit step out of the shadows. “Now I am going to ask you a question you little worm…..if a thug screams after being beaten for trying to harm an innocent person does anyone care??” Bern lurked closer to the thug and he could see the thugs eyes widen in fear. Bern picked him up and shoved him in the dumper, slammed the slid shut. At that moment he took his hammer and proceed to “swing for the fences”. The woman stood there in shock watching the scene unfold. Bern walked down the other end of the alley, pulled the thug from the dumpster and guided him forcefully by the back of his neck back to the woman. “Look at her….LOOK AT HER!!, now you will remember this face and you will never even so much as be on the same block as her, do you understand me!?!” The thug regaining focus heard Bern’s words and looked at the woman “Yeah….I swear man….not even on the same block….” Bern held him by his throat against the wall and leaned into him “Good…now hear this…you let everyone know that The Bat is not the only thing to be afraid of in this city. There are other things that can hide in the shadows…..and just in case you forget to tell them, here is a little reminder”, the thug felt his neck begin to heat up, his skin began to sear and burn. Bern gave the thugs neck one last squeeze for good measure and dropped him to the ground. After the thug let go of his burning neck it showed a seared hand print around his throat. “Now get lost worm” Bern ordered. The thug ran off and Bern turned his attention to the woman “….are you okay?” the woman was still in shock “I…I think so……thanks…..” Bern escorted the woman back to her place and as she entered she turned and smiled to him one last time and said “Thank you”. Bern continued his survey of Gotham from above and as he was passing over the Burnley Freight Yards he heard a scream. He set himself down and took stock of the yard below. The scream rang through the yard a second time. Bern was able to pinpoint the sound to one of the abandoned tunnels and head into the yard. Having come to understand his powers more and more Bern was able cloak himself in a smoke like shroud to avoid being detected in dark places like this. Making his way into the tunnel he heard the thugs laughing and grunting, he could also hear a woman crying and clothes tearing. “This is gonna be so good man….” Uttered one thug “oh yeah, she looks like a fighter” wretched the other. The woman lay on the ground crying and prepared to accept her unfortunate fate. One of the thugs sniffed the air a little “hey….you smell something burning??” At that moment a fire erupted not far from the thugs and Bern growled “So you like a fight, huh?” As the tunnel lit up, one could see the look of shock on the faces of the thugs. “Holy shi….” One thug started to utter as Bern grabbed him and threw him into the other thug. As the two began to scramble farther down the tunnel one started to babble “Look man…we didn’t mean nothing by this…we was just tryin’ to give her a scare…you know….happy Halloween crap…” Bern slowly walked down into the tunnel, the flames from his hands and head faded slowly faded, Bern lightly smacked his hammer head into his palm and darkness set in again “well trick or treat boys.” Bangs, crashes and thuds echoed through the tunnel. Bern’s head lit a blaze and light was restored to the immediate area. The bruised and bloody thugs were alive though they may have been praying for death in their own minds. Bern grabbed them and smacked their heads together so the weight of their bodies resting against each other is all that held them up. Bern’s eyes blazed a bright white and his voice bellowed through the tunnel “You are going to walk down this tunnel away from here and where ever the hell you end up is where you stay….understand me!?!” One thug began to cry a little “y..y…yes….” and the other one hand a stream of urine running down his leg as seen by the dark line forming down the leg of his pants. “Just in case you need a little help in remembering to stay out of this city, allow me to give you a parting gift..” the sides of the thugs heads began to sizzle and the smell of burning flesh filled the area. Bern released them and the dark searing hand print covered each side of their faces. The thugs stood up and ran down into the tunnel away from Bern and the woman. Bern turned his attention the woman and in attempts to approach her and make sure she was okay the woman screamed and ran out of the tunnel “Get away from me!!” Bern tried to follow her and assure her that he wasn’t the bad guy “Lady…I’m not going to….” The woman screamed “you’re a monster, get the hell away from me!!” The woman ran off into the night away from the freight yard. Bern stood there in a bit of shock that someone would respond to someone saving their life like that. In addition to this Bern was hit in a sensitive spot hearing her call him a monster. Bern felt himself tense up, his hands clenched. He took off in a rush into the night sky. Bern settled down on the corner of the Gotham Cathedral. He sat down on the ledge next to the massive sculpture of a gargoyle. “I bet you were pretty misunderstood too back in your day….I mean you just were trying to do something good, look out for people and make sure nothing happened to them….but in the same way you were also feared and called names…” Bern looked at the sculpture hoping in some way that the legends were true and the creature would come to life and answer him. ~To be continued~ Category:Blog posts